Awning



Aug. 11, 1936.. I c. P. FOGH 2,050,835

AWNING Filed Oct. 26, 1932 4 INVENTO A TTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 11, 1936 NiTE STATES FATE T E 4 Claims.

The invention relates to awnings of the roll-up type, and more particularly to means for extending or unfurling such awnings.

An object of the invention is to provide an awning of the character described in which the initial extension movement of the awning is effected automatically as soon as the latter is released for extension whereby the undesirable unwinding of the awning on the awning roller without a corresponding extension movement of the awning during the initial extension operation, will be eliminated.

Another object of the invention is to provide an awning of the character described in which will be assured the proper rewinding of the cover and the absence of any shock or jar when the awning approaches and reaches its retracted position.

A further object of the invention is to provide an awning of the character described which is of simple, durable and inexpensive construction and which will firmly maintain itself in its extended position yet yieldingly resist a sudden shock such as produced by a gust of wind or the like.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some of which, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the following description of the preferred form of the invention which is illustrated in the drawing accompanying and forming part of the specification. It is to be understood, however, that variations in the showing made by the said drawing and description may be adopted within the scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the awning applied to a building.

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary plan View of a portion of the awning.

Figure 3 is an end sectional view of the awning portion illustrated in Figure 2 and is taken substantially on the plane of line 3-3 of Figure 2.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the awning portion illustrated in Figure 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the awning is applied to a side 6 of the building, and comprises a cover portion 1, preferably of cloth such as canvas or the like, arranged to be attached to and wound upon a roller 8, the latter being suitably secured to the building for rotation to cause the canvas to be wound thereon or unwound therefrom in the well-known manner. Preferably the usual crank-operated roller tuming means 9 is used for effecting the desired rotation of the roller and for retaining the canvas in a retracted or fully or partially extended position. The outer or free end of the cover is attached to a cross-bar H to which are affixed arms l2 and the latter connected to the building by means of guide links l3 and guide rods M, the arms being slidably connected to the rods by meansof sleeves l6 which are pivotally secured to the arms. It will be evident that when the cover is retracted, the arms and links move to a substantially vertical position against the wall while the sleeves i6 move downwardly on the rods l4; and conversely when the canvas is extended the sleeves are raised whereby the arms and links assume an angular position such as indicated in Figures 1 and 4.

In the type of awning here illustrated, the awning frame and support, on approaching a retracted position against. the building, tend to form an unstable force system making likely a collapse of the awning members against the building so as to cause the retractive movement to finish with a jar. This difiiculty', however, in accordance with my invention, is overcome in a simple and effective manner by associating with each pair of arms and links a pair of springs 36 and 3'! which are compressed or otherwise set in tension during the retractive movement of the awning, whereby a resilient resistance to such movement is afforded, and at the same time there is provided a means of starting the extension movement of the awning instantly upon unwinding the roll as well as urging the awning in all of its partially retracted positions to a fully extended position.

As a particularly important feature of my invention the springs 36 and 31 are disposed at the pivotal connections of the arms l2 and links l3. While successful operation may to a fair degree be attained by mounting the springs at points other than here indicated, I have found that by far the most satisfactory arrangement of forces in all the various awning positions may be obtained only by positioning the springs at the pivotal connection between. the arms and links as shown.

In arranging for the proper positioning of the springs, the connection between the arms and links aforesaid is preferably effected as here shown by the use of inter-fitting lugs and brackets 22 and 23 positioned on the links and arms respectively. The lugs and brackets are held in pivotal engagement with each other by means of bolts 24 passed through aligned openings in said parts. The springs are of helical form and preferably, as here shown, the bolts 2d are extended transversely from the links and arms a sufficient distance to carry the springs so as to serve as pins'for the pivotal connection of the links and arms as well as a supporting means for the springs. The springs may be held against longitudinal displacement on the bolts by means of washers 26 disposed at the bolt'heads and bearing against the outer coils of the springs. To insure a. secure mounting of the bolts with respect to the arm and link members, sleeves 21 are preferably provided about the bolts between the brackets and washers, the latter being drawn against the sleeves by means of nuts 28 provided on the threaded end of the bolts.

As an important feature of the invention the springs 36 and 31 are telescopically arranged on the bolt 24 with the spring 3'! enclosed within and substantially coterminous with the spring 36. The ends of the springs 38 and 39 adjacent a pivotal connection of the arms and links are bent to engage the upper surface of the links l3 while the opposite ends 4| and 42 of the springs are bent to engage the upper and lower surfaces respectively of the arms l2 on opposite sides of the pivotal connection, the ends 4| bearing on the upper surface of the arms on the outer side of the pivotal connections while the ends 42 are arranged to press upwardly against the lower side of the arms l2 on the inner side of the pivotal connections. This arrangement of the spring ends is of considerable moment as it makes the spring unit of a double-acting nature in that it not only presses downward on the arm I2 to one side of the pivotal connection, but pulls at the same time upwardly on the arm at the other side of such connection. Also such a double-acting unit materially reduces the frictional wear of the bearing portions of the links and arms at the pivotal connection, for with the pressure distributed to both sides of the pivotal connection the bearing pressure at the connection is more evenly distributed over the bearing surfaces. Other features of advantage are provided in the use of the present invention, such as, first, the reduction in the necessary length of the spring unit, which makes for neatness and compactness in the appearance of the awning construction, and, second, the use, if desired, of a combination of springs comprised of wires of different cross-sectional areas for obtaining a desired degree of force and for adapting a spring to special installations. An application of a spring unit using different sizes of springs, and at the same time maintaining a substantially equal distribution of force about the pivotal connection, is illustrated in the drawing wherein the spring 31 is of a smaller cross-section than the spring 36. This arrangement is made possible due to the smaller diameter of the coils of spring 31 which produces substantially the same force per degree deflection as the heavier but larger diameter spring 36.

It will now be clear that the means of my invention is well adapted to the accomplishment of the various objects hereinbefore referred to.

I claim:

1. In an awning of the character described, a covering extendable from a building side wall at one side of a window, a cross bar secured to the outermost edge of said covering, arms slidably attached to said wall and secured to said bar, links pivotally mounted to said wall and having pivotal connections with said arms and movable with said arms and bar from a retracted position adjacent said walls to an extended position away from said wall, and a pair of telescopically arranged substantially coterminous helical springs mounted at each of said connections and urging said arms and links into extended position, one of said springs engaging said arm on one side of said connection and the other spring engaging said arm at the other side of said connection in a manner producing substantially equal a ditive force moments tending to rotate said arms about said connections and at the same time distributing the stress at said connections.

2. In an awning of the character described, a covering extendable from a side wall at one side of a window, a cross bar secured to the outermost edge of said covering, arms slidably attached at their ends to said wall and affixed at their opposite ends to said bar, links pivotally mounted at their ends to said side wall with their opposite ends having pivotal connections with said arms and movable with said arms and bar from a retracted position adjacent said wall to an extended position away from said wall, bolts passing through said connections and extending transversely of said arms and links, a helical spring mounted on each of said bolts having the ends thereof connected to said links and arms and tending to rotate said arms about said connection in a manner moving the arms and links to extended position, and a second helical spring mounted in telescoping relation over and substantially coterminous with each of said first springs and having its free ends connected to said links and arms and urging the latter to extended position, the connecting point of said second spring and arm being on the opposite side of said pivoted arm and link connection from the connecting point of said first spring and arm whereby the spring forces will be distributed about said connections in a manner distributing the stress thereat.

3. In an awning of the character described, a covering extendable from a building side wall at one side of a window, a cross bar secured to the outermost edge of said covering, arms slidably attached to said wall and secured to said bar, links pivotally mounted to said wall and having pivotal connections with said arms and movable with said arms and bar from a retracted position adjacent said wall to an extended position away from said wall, a pair of springs mounted at each of said connections having ends connected to said links and opposite ends connected to said arms on opposite sides of said connections in a manner tending to rotate said arms about said connec tion to move the arms and links and distributing the spring forces to opposite sides of said connections to distribute the stress thereat.

4. For use with an awning having a covering and cross bar secured to the outermost edge of said covering and supported for movement to an extended position from a wall at one side of a window by sets of arms and links each including an arm mounted at one end to said wall for vertical movement and secured at the other end to said bar and a link pivoted to said wall and to said arm for guiding the latter to and from an extended position and a pin joining and providing thepivotal axis between said arm and link and extending transversely therefrom, a pair of helical springs telescopingly mounted over said pin and having the ends thereof adjacent said arm and link secured to said link and having the opposite ends thereof secured respectively to said arm on opposite sides of said pin and urging relative rotation of said arm and link in the same direction whereby the reactive force of said last named spring ends will be applied transversely to the outer end of said pin in opposite directions.

' CHRISTIAN P. FOGH. 

